Servant Leadership Mastery

Strategies, Stories, and Stimulus for Leading with Respect Along with Results

Chapter 4.

What Do Team Members Want from Their Leader?

Fairness

Martin had a reputation for playing favorites, he had a couple of team members he favored and would give them special treatment, such as high-profile projects, more opportunities to showcase their work to senior management, promotions, and larger bonuses. In return, loyal to Martin was obvious.

Elisa had just joined Martin’s department, she worked hard and performed excellent work with accuracy and on time but she noticed her two colleagues were given preferential treatment when their contribution was neither of higher quality than hers nor were they talented, while her efforts and contribution were ignored and mostly unnoticed.

“The boss always pays attention to Kaya and Jason, they are his favorites. It’s just not fair!”

Elisa was frustrated and demotivated for working so hard to no avail, as she was unrecognized for promotions opportunities would pass her by. Her heart had quit and decided to hang around in the company for a few more months of salary till an outside opportunity knocks on her door, as her resume was ready to be distributed.

Sounds familiar?

There are several types of justice in organizations, important for leaders to contemplate and avoid biases, as they are a mechanism to upkeep FAIRNESS in the workplace:

1. Distributive Justice – Fairness in the distribution of resources and benefits such as compensation, promotion, and other rewards.
2. Procedural Justice – Fairness of processes and procedures used for decision-making, resource allocation, and distribution of rewards. It ensures that the processes are transparent, consistent, and impartial.
3. Interaction Justine – Fairness of interpersonal interactions and communication in the workplace. It ensures individuals have a voice in decisions and is treated with respect and dignity.
4. Information Justice – Fairness in information shared with employees, such as reasons for decisions and criteria for evaluation of one’s performance.
5. Restorative Justice – Fairness in repairing harm and resolving conflicts in the workplace to restore relationships and repair consequent damages.
6. Retributive Justice – Punitive consequences imposed when someone violates rules and policies, aimed at deterring others from engaging in similar negative behaviors.

TIP: Various types of justice in organizations are important in creating a fair and equitable workplace where employees feel valued and respected. By promoting justice in the workplace, organizations help to improve employee morale, reduce turnover and increase productivity.

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Dr. Maria Pressentin is a Servant Leadership Strategist, a multi-award-winning behavioral scientist, and a leadership development professional, Maria helps people shift their mindset and apply serving-leader skills to their daily interactions. Her work involves incorporating competencies of servant leadership in organizational functional and strategic roles to build long-term vitality in businesses. Her latest book is titled “Key Factors and Use Cases of Servant Leadership Driving Organizational Performance”, IGI Global, 2021.